


Dark puzzles

by Spacegaywritings



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (mentions! only!), Crying, Emetophobia, M/M, Men Crying, Mentions of Mass Shooting, Mentions of making out, Multi, Nudity, Porn Mention, Remus being Remus, Safeword Use, Serial killer mention, Sympathetic Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Tentacles, adhd remus, but nonsexual really!, death/execution/stoning/slaughter mention, implied animal cruelty mention, implied politics discourse, implied synesthesia, it sounds worse than it is i promise!, mentions of body horror, mentions of bugs/cockroaches, mentions of depression, mentions of implied stimming, mentions of skinning, non-sexual nudity, nonsexual tentacles, platonic safewords, reference to skin anatomy, remus tentacles, sexual innuendo (remus), shards, the content is not worse than remus and i am only tagging for the shit he says basically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-24 20:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22163593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacegaywritings/pseuds/Spacegaywritings
Summary: (SFL tag)Virgil visits the dark sides. He finally realised his actions may have been shit. Will they take him back or reject him like he rejected them after leaving?Dee hisses a lot.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Comments: 4
Kudos: 179





	Dark puzzles

**Author's Note:**

> i know there are many TWs but they are basically because of Remus' nonsense talks because.. well, it is Remus.  
> Hope you can enjoy, I made it for the Secret Santa/Sanders Pro-ship edition 2019 ♥

The night struck the seemingly empty apartment. Silence hung in the air, heavy like a loaded truck. The whole place looked much like the rest of Thomas’ home if it was not for the rather dark looks. Some things were laying around carelessly, almost as if dropped right after the moment of use.  
It was so different from the light side’s space but it was still strangely similar. It was like looking into a mirror but one that twisted things and turned reality into something it was and was not at the same time instead of reflecting it properly. 

Roman had explained it quite well when he had tried to explain his relationship to Remus, the other side of creativity.  
However, it never explained the relationship the dark sides had among one another.  
Virgil had not once spoken about it and while Deceit had teased the idea of their connection, it remained a mystery. As always, Remus seemed too confusing and changing like the flowing water in a river to actually get information out of him.

All the light sides knew were that Virgil used to be a dark side until Thomas started accepting and including him and even worked to hear him out as much as possible.  
Deceit was on the way to it but he still had not shared his name. Patton tried his best to pave the way for Thomas to accept him too but now it was their way to try and accommodate someone other than Virgil for once.  
Thomas knew about how Virgil used to be a dark side and it had prompted him enough to make a start and encourage Deceit to join their VLOG once. Patton did his best to ask the lying side to join their activities and general meetings such as eating together, just hanging out or accompanying Thomas during certain events.

Still, .. Deceit was not all in and neither was Remus.  
Remus was a lot harder to win over for one of the sides.  
Thomas had issues accepting the Duke as he was but he made an effort to go slow and ease up into it (which made it somewhat more manageable but it was still work). Logan kept warning him to never overdo it or force himself into acceptance since that would be counterproductive as well.

There was just so much to pay attention to and the light sides as well as the others were just in a myriad of shards, their respective spaces of the mind absolute messes compared to before.  
It counted for the mind space the light sides were in charge of.  
The space the others inhabited looked unusually clean for someone like Remus living in that area.  
Virgil carefully stepped through the dark version of the living room and carefully looked around.  
Remus’ whole outfit was there. Just dropped right on the spot and there was a banana peel, perked up on the table in all provocation it could come up with.

The anxious side ducked a bit as he let his gaze roam over the floor before him. Having Remus around was a lot since usually, things like Lego stones and similar things were jut laying around. Sometimes they popped out of his body for no reason or literally any reason at all.  
Magic trick? Sure thing. Oh, rather a random intermission? Right there for ya! Feel like lifting up the mood? Everyone likes Lego. Fucking around with Dee? Pull out the stones and leave them laying around on the floor just for getting on the perfectionist’s nerves.

Alright, sometimes Lego stones were needles, pins or straight up frozen nipples digging into your skin.  
One could never really know with Remus around. Consistency did not necessarily exist with him, neither did it in this place - probably correlation, as Logan would conclude.

Virgil carefully dipped closer to the kitchen. He could hear the steady flow of water running and the repetitive yet random ticking of the clock. There was no rhythm to the time flowing in here yet at least the sink did the trick of sticking to physics. If he had not gone into this space with a certain determination filling him, he would have been affected by the sound of measured time passing.  
But he came here for something.

Remus was probably asleep or some shit so he could not fuck around with the laws of nature. Or he just did not feel like it. That was more like it. His moods painted the mindscape and shaped the loose for it usually took.

Dee... Dee was around.  
He had to be around.  
Time running wild was his way of insisting that time was just another dumb concept society came up with in order to trap everyone in a certain system and enslave the people according to certain measures as were scales and the BMI or grades. Actually, everything was pure evil in the eye and a half of a frustrated snake.

The once-upon-a-time-dark-side carefully stepped closer, finally having reached over to the kitchen.  
Anxiety was sitting heavy in his gut. A big, dark pitfall of emotions and dread eating him up form the inside out. It was the pure panic as always.  
Virgil had always dreaded these moments but with his heart on his tongue at the moment, honesty up his sleeves and pure openness in his eyes, he was scared of bringing his vulnerable state into a conversation with the angry snake.  
He had all right to be angry.  
They used to have it all and now, all he had served to split up what they used to be. It was his fault.

The anxious trait took a shake breath and blinked over the snake and took off his big jacket.

“Damien.”

After this, a lot of things happened at the same time and Virgil could do nothing but blink.

Dee immediately spun around, something in his hands and immediately slipping from his exposed fingers. Too slipper to keep up an angry grip on all that was real and all that was a potential reality.  
Virgil flinched as the plate crashed onto the floor and burst into an uncountable amount of little fragments, only held together by the idea of how this used to be a plate once in a lifetime. Now not Remus painted the space but the white porcelain directed what this place would look like from now on.

The sound had Virgil let go off his jacket and freeze up like a deer in the headlights. Caught off-guard and prepared for nothing ever in his entire life, he inhaled sharply. Dee’s piercing eyes nailed him to the wall he had kept close to.  
There was no hat, no cape and no gloves either.  
They were both vulnerable. Equally so.  
The dark space was a place for them to be who they were at any moment and with any mood they could come up with.  
They were loosely bound to Thomas’ experience but they were much freer than the light sides. Partly because they were not as involved in his life but also because Thomas did not pull them into question of fulfilling tasks for him in his cognitive processes. He rarely took deception into consideration, neither did he often summon the darker themes of his creativity.

Hence, the sides varied their appearance when not with Thomas. The light sides just did not insist on it too much because they were legitimate parts of Thomas, they both identified as such. It was a mutual relationship.  
The others were not so lucky. They varied greatly from their origin. When Thomas did not imagine them to be in a certain way, they let their own imagination and potency flow and just existed, sometimes even without corporal form.

Virgil pressed himself against the wall, staring at his ex-friend with a blank expression. Purple panic dripped into his face.  
The lying side stared back at him.  
Silence stretched out between them like a lazy cat trying to get a tan.

Dee carefully patted his hands dry, the scaled fingers dancing around the towel and gently gripping it ever so slightly. Virgil wondered whether anyone knew how delicate Damien’s grip could be when he wanted to.  
No matter the temper tantrums, he had never been a violent or brutal type. He was a delicate touch, a person to stay in your mind for his mind, for his eyes and his arguments that would stick with you even months after your encounter.

“He-hey”, Virgil mumbled. He was speaking through his teeth as he bit down onto his lips and looked at the other. Dee was readily putting his hat and gloves back on as he let the first greeting slide and with a dull snip of his fingers, his cape was back in place.

“Hello, Virgil”

The anxious trait carefully shrug his shoulders and averted his gaze. The floor looked interesting again despite there being no more obstacles to worry about with Deceit working on consistent order and banishing Remus from wrecking havoc outside of his room.  
It was new.. but it seemed like a change he did not hate. If he was allowed to judge it after all... it did not feel as if he was all too welcome after all. He could not exactly blame Damien for that.  
Virgil sighed.  
He had been a bad friend. A truly shitty companion and he got what he deserved when the other’s gaze simply wandered through him as if he was made of glass and anything but his existence was more interesting than him.

“I-I’.. sorry.”

Damien continued looking through him. By now his clothed fingers worked to adjust his bowler head, the coal colour resonating with his aura. Virgil could feel darkness oozing from the other.  
It was common to be more sensitive to certain influences in this corner of Thomas’ mind but Virgil had forgotten just how intense it was for him to be around the liar, not too far away from the chaotic creativity either. The influence was undeniable and while it could shut up people like Logan, Virgil felt his tongue feel nearly freed.

“Ssssorry?”

The word hit him like a whip and made him jump. It lashed out onto him, revealing wrath and destructive powers while the hiss lingered after him.  
It was the sneakingly slow threat of a snake.  
Virgil nodded eager as the word shot into his ears and he carefully rubbed over his exposed arms.  
It suddenly felt so much colder. He was all exposed on his own, now.

He did not think he could deal with this.

“You are sorry why? Because you interrupted me?”, the words were glowing like the last piece of blaze in a campfire on a trip into the lonely woods.  
Virgil forced his eyes shut.  
He should just say it. Just rip it off like a band-aid. That was what he could do, yeah. He should just..just speak up and get it out. He knew he could, it was like saying his name, it was like saying Damien’s name-

“Dee, I -I fucked up!”

He dug his hands into his lower arms as he curled them around himself and pushed his limbs into his lower abdomen.  
Maybe he was not real, but the panic and the dread was. It was a dark shadow spreading within him and poking him in all the sensitive spots.  
It rose and spread and stretched all over him like ingested poison travelling through a body.

One of Deceit’s many arms ducked out from under his cape and he handed Virgil a tissue without further comment.  
All his hands were gloved in yellow. He just rarely used them all at once.  
When did you ever need six arms?  
Virgil took the little tissue with care. Warmth spread from one hand to another and he gently padded at his eyes.

The anxious side was obviously working hard to be absolutely in an extreme state of overdrive with his makeup darkening a large part of his face, eyeshadow opaque and thick on his skin.  
Damien must have realised Virgil would not just come down for nothing and try to force his tears back while talking to him. He might have his feelings about their situation but he was no fool. He could sense a special situation when it was in front of him.  
Or maybe he just wanted him gone because having him around was possibly bothering. Was it because the triggered memories pained him or simply due to Virgil taking up valuable time and space Dee could put to much better use than interactions with the former dark side.

“Sweetie, what brought you here? Does Patton need anything? Thomas, perhaps?”

He assumed, with mild interest, that someone had sent Virgil down to them because he was very much able to be rather unaffected by the other dark sides. He did feel their influence but it did ultimately not bring out anything excessive within him due to his own history of being one of them. That being the case, it would not corrupt Thomas in any way.  
Maybe this Virgil was just another of Remus’ experiments to show Deceit that he was, in fact, not over their previous friendship and started intervening with Thomas’ business for more than just benefits but also to show Virgil’s new “friends” that he knew more about him, that he had more power over him after all.

The other carefully shook his head and bit down onto his lip with more force. The snake could see the dark lips paling and caving as small dents appeared in it.

If Virgil could, he would cuddle into the depth of his jacket and curl into the oversized mess that was basically a whole fucking blanket to him. His body was meant to swim in this thing!  
However, right now he was standing in front of Dee, sweatshirt covering him as much as his bangs and the usual ripped black jeans.  
All he could do was play with his thin sleeves, pick at them and stare at his fidgeting fingers as he hunched over and shook his head.

If he came down into the comfort of Deceit’s space, then he needed to show he was of good intentions and reveal a bit more of himself that he other side did not quite know enough about.  
It was like playing poker and he had caught up on when to risk and when to play it safe.  
He needed to pay a tribute and raise the stakes.

“No, nobody sent me.”

He straightened his back, the curve around his shoulders disappearing and instead his body rose into a more straight-up position.  
His body was slightly hover over Damien. The lying side was slightly shorter and the tip of his head reaches about Virgil’s nose. Actually, he was not just smaller than Virgil but all in all, the shortest of the sides who have openly interacted with Thomas so far.  
Funnily enough, Remus was the tallest and nobody ever talked about it because everyone could just manipulate their heights anyway (given Thomas did not actively imagine them in a certain way).

“I sent myself”, he said with a shrug, eyes still darting into any direction but Damien’s piercing gaze, “I wanted to come.”

The shorter side shifted but stayed in place.  
Upon clearing his throat, he prompted his ex-friend again.  
Even the thought of the prefix to this term hurt.

“Oh, Virgil. Did Patton finally give up on you?”

Something sparkled in the other’s face and his cheeks pushed themselves upwards in circular-shaped hills of laughter.

“Did your happy friends finally get enough of you sso now you come crawling back to me because you are sscared to be alone. Because you refussse to be the only bad guy, sszweetie?”

His words rolled off his lavish tongue, heavy and sweet like honey but they were spice to his open wounds. The more he talked, the more hot and hurtful energy they seemed to charge. The boiling hiss shot its explosive load right at Virgil.  
It felt like Romans’ sword practice with the Dragon Queen had to feel for the latter party.  
They were directed at Virgil’s heart and thrusted right into it. At least Anxiety was more than ready for Deceit’s lies and attempts at hurting him in return for having been hurt before by his all he had done.

God, how could he ever have done that.  
He really fucking deserved and that just made it worse for him to cope with this.  
It was a last straw but it was all he could focus in when he felt panic creep into his system like the despicable hoard of cockroaches everyone tried to keep locked away.

“Inktea”

Damien blinked.  
For a moment, the force of his presence seemed to distance itself a bit  
It let Virgil breathe just a tad better.

“Pardon me?”

Without any other moment passing, the kitchen lights flickered and a rather happy yet naturally clothed Remus appeared in the room.  
Which was nothing but a euphemism for Remus being in all the glory of how nature had made him.  
...Or Thomas, actually.

“You summoned me?”

His voice scratched over the kitchen surfaces and made the snake man groan in response.  
The room was immediately filled with the gradually intensifying reek of ivy and something unidentifiable. It smelled familiarly unpleasant but at the same time, it was a somewhat oddly comforting smell.  
Like one of those things that smelled bad but still made one smell them again because they were actually not that bad but kinda got one all hooked up but were ...reek after all.

Still, there was not a single moment in life during which Virgil was more relieved (or positively feeling at all) about the Duke being finally a part of the gathering.  
Especially considering the man did not even have the decency to cover his personal parts.

“Nobody ssssummoned you”, he hissed back at the other and picked up Virgil’s jacket with one of his many hands.  
“And Virgil isss on hiss way out!”

The Duke let out a cartoon-like huff.  
His voice was comically shrill and annoying. It was so high-pitched, it made Damien wonder just how the fuck this man was a part of Thomas after all.  
Then again, they were all differing to certain degrees for more than just good reasons.  
It did nothing to help anyone over the fact that a loud and intense contribution from Remus had the capacity to hurt ears.

“Eh- sounds like bullshit to me, Virgil called the safeword on us. I am here. The rules said for me to join if I can and I can. And you made the rules so fuck you, Dee. And you know I gladly will!”

While Remus’ voice made a leap from strong and confident, the good impression immediately yielded to yet another drop into the scratchy sound of his voice. And the even more horrible imagery to come with his words.  
Dee blinked in reply at the statement.

“He wh-”

Remus turned to look at Virgil, his eyes widening in his calm chaos.

“Emo!”, he cheered and spread his arms, approaching the unusually exposed figure, “you came back!”

Virgil let out a protesting sound and shoved the tall man away by his chest, his nose scrunching up just enough for it to show a difference on his facial features as they pulled into a little wrinkles for a moment just short enough for someone to notice.

“Yeah, still don’t like hugs, eh.”

Virgil threw the Chaos Creativity a look. Remus squeaked in delight like an excited puppy.

“Also you are kinda naked, dude. Not my comfort.”

Remus tilted his head, wide shockingly open eyes staring into the void that was Virgil before him.

“Oh. That sounds like a YOU problem, tho!”

Virgil squeaked and shook his head as Remus made a dove for him, trying to catch him in his hug but the usually rather lethargic man was quick to dodge and flee himself next to Damien instead who just eyes the two as if he was staring at a camera in The Office.  
Honestly, at this point, he might have just been in this show, considering how everyone around him behaved so ridiculously.

“Stop it, you two”

His voice interjected as Remus arched his back and ... uh,, kinda hissed like a cat in an attempt to mimic a war screech and be somewhat intimidating.  
At least that it what it seemed to be like when Virgil jumped away like chased prey getting trapped and Remus just got ready to drop down and jump after him.  
It was a lot like dog and cat since Virgil was such a little shit after all.  
It was almost like old times.

Deceit’s six arms jumped out and grabbed the two before they could run through the whole mindspace and ruin the whole order he had just established.  
(With Remus around, the whole place was just a second away from burning down or spontaneously combustion but..well, the short side somewhat decided to bother enough to care about any of this.)

“You sssit down. And we will talk about this. You do not get to walk out of our livess and just pop back in and play with Remus like he iss your best friend when you left without a word. He may have the attention span of a dying mayfly but you don’t get to jussst barge in here like that. Not on my watch.”

Virgil could nearly hear a pun in his ears, Patton’s cheerful voice and little giggle ringing in his memory with a hint of nostalgia to it.  
Something on his face must have given away enough of his mental images for Damian to let go and look him over for a minute.

“Nobody is forcing you. You can go. You can always walk out of here. I will not stop you and I will make sure Remus won’t either, sweetie.”

A little bit of soft sparked in Dee and for a moment, the reek from Remus was not as bad. For a moment, the past never happened and they were just .. friends.. like they used to be before Thomas had decided to change something about himself.  
Light blinked in Virgil’s heart. For just a moment. And there was warmth between them

“...okay.”

Remus whistled and gave the two a smirk. A seemingly knowing one. His eyes were reading books and porn at the same time as they reflected the couple before him.

“You two need to get a room”

And then, without another prompt.

“Are kitchens rooms?  
Kitchens are rooms but do not count as rooms. Such horrible thing! In rooms you do private things like slaughtering your pet and now you do not have any privacy in the kitchen? Did slaughter become a social event?”

Virgil blinked at him.  
Kinda.. Kinda did not miss that part of the dark sides.. not really.  
He sighed in vain.  
Remus continued on.

“Now, consider. Beheadings were public and so was the execution by guillotine and then there was also the case of stoning people - well actually that is still a thing! And also, there are bull fights and the media feasting on mass shootings anD-”

With a snap of Dee’s fingers, the kitchen was gone and the chaotic Creativity fell onto a leathery couch.  
Plain. Black.  
Remus sighed- possibly in distaste. The side felt insulted by how simple everything around here seemed to be.  
Damien was like the Logic of the dark sides. Boring (to put it maliciously) and simple and Remus had his thoughts on the lying short stack but he also has his thoughts on the lack of blood and man-eating jelly plants around here.  
It was shocking to say at least but well, it was not his fault the lying side decided to live without the true beauty of a precious life dedicated to creativity.

Virgil was seated next to Remus, rather unceremoniously falling into his corner of the couch and scrambling to shift into a more comfortable position on the icky feelings below him.  
He retreated his arms into his sleeves and let his palms push down onto his knees. Leather was so cold and stiff and -  
A shiver ran down his spine and he visibly shook.  
Just the thought of how much he disliked the feeling of it made him feel worse about where he was sitting

“Wait, I can dress up for you! I will make it super hot, tho!”

Remus shot up before Deceit could stop him and the Duke was gone for but a moment just to freshly pop up in an actual dress.  
It was short, barely covering his fine ass that Thomas had worked on so well. The long legs were covered in fishnets -probably made from actual fishnets he used to catch some octopus friends because why not.  
There was no reason to what he did, just ‘mood’ as Virgil would say and a sense of curiosity that Logan would envy to have.  
The black of his dress was slightly floating but it was rather simple compared to Remus' usual attire (given he was clothed at all). The front has strings to tie him into the dress and adjust his slightly bulky figure. He was a bit broader than Thomas but the dress easily reached up to the middle of his upper arms and concealed his inviting shoulders. Some intricate green ornaments decorated the part of the dress that could be tied together flexibly. The strings were silver, slightly sparkling and looking about as strangely fitting as the skunk streak in the garbage man's nest of a hair.  
The dress hugged Remus' body shape in all places, adjusting to his form like an actual birth suit.

Remus flopped down again and sprawled over the couch, excitement glimmering in his eyes like dreams and hopes of children a moment before it was time to receive gifts on the holy night.  
He really reminded Damien of a of a dog. It made him wonder how Patton had not tried adopting him yet but that was another part of hypocrisy he did not have the nerve to think about at the moment.

“uh... thanks, Ree”, he mumbled in reply and the dark creativity sniffed the little sounds the other made like expensive perfume gracing his nostrils.  
His head inched closer but Virgil did not make any inclination to meet him.

Damien was standing before them, his stance implying that he did not plan on joining them on the couch but instead stare into them.  
He cleared his throat.

“Yes, Double D?”

Ah. How original.  
Virgil giggled and Remus looked as if he would spontaneously hyperventilate if Virgil did any other thing around him, willingly, without even gaining a bit of dark eyeshadow.  
Dee blinked, unamused.

“You used the word, darling. Why are you here and why are you saying these things?”

The snake man let his eyes gaze at the puddle of black and purple once more, a clear sigh provided despite Remus’ clear intention to leap onto the ...the intruder.  
Deceit could not even think about how he felt about this but it was a strong sensation within him, from as far as he could tell. It felt as if he was about to split from his own existence or immediately vomit his guts out.  
... difficult to describe but something within him felt sick, as if he had ingested poison he could not quite handle. It was something he rarely ever handled..

The bitter taste of the unwanted truth. A product by cold reality.

Virgil scratched the back of his head and carefully drew his legs closer to himself.

“Uh... I.. I thought it all over and.. I -I am sorry, okay? I fucked up, messed it all up big time and I get it. I..um did a lot of stupid shit and I regret it but I thought this was different.”

The anxious trait sighed and played with his sleeves, pulling at them a tearing at the ends of them.

“I thought.. I thought we were all bad for Thomas and then I tried to not be bad but you all still were and I really believed that we actually harmed him before and that you wanted to bring him down... when I am the only who really did.”

Dee blinked at the speaking person.

“I made a mistake and I.. I am sorry.”

Virgil shrugged and brushed through his bangs, the hazel strands falling through his fingers with ease.

“I should have talked to you or something”, he started and let out a heavy sigh, “literally anything rather than just fucking off like the coward I am. Uh, anxiety things I guess. Fight or flight and all..”

The man in question shrugged and Remus let out a little squeak in response. It reminded him of an aroused pig but with Remus, nobody could really tell with confidence.  
It was just assumptions and educated guesses.. or literally any random suggestions which are probably more likely to hit the spot than any logical deduction could ever get to.

Dee looked between Remus and Virgil for a moment. He could not feel the anxious trait lying at all. Usually he would feel a contradiction in himself, in the world itself. The liar would see the lie in the words, he would see the letters break and fall apart because they had no ground to stand on. There was no truth to build up on that that could keep the words together.

“Really, you get anxious?”, Remus piped up with his voice ending on a slightly increased volume in all the seriousness his chaotic mind could come up with.  
Virgil simply glared at him before rolling his eyes so hard, it looked as if they might as well just pop out and leave his face forever. Remus briefly wondered whether he could kinda suck on them but that would probably be a bit too close for the purple man.

“Yeah, no fucking shit, Sherlock. I AM Anxiety. I gotta do my job at least somehow.”

Remus snickered and stuck his tongue out at the other without further comments. Damien let out a little sigh and rubbed his temples.  
No word in the English language had the capacity to describe the emotional state he was in at this moment.  
It was a lot, akin to taking one of these depression showers after a big and greasy depression nap. When feeling better yet still bad, the feeling of comfort and ugliness clashed together in this weird mix. And at the end of all, there was Dee. Washed with the waters of truth and refreshed with new information and feelings but he was but a clean slate, a tabula rasa and absolutely void of experience to deal with this.

He knew how to handle Virgil before he left, he knew how to handle Remus before Virgil had left. Deceit used to have it all under control and now it was coming back but it was not quite the same.

“Virgil, let me be clear here”, he started eventually.

His voice was settled, sedated like a tired dinner in among loving family with young children.

“I am sorry, too.”

The anxious side blinked rapidly, jaw falling open just a tad for Dee to acknowledge it with a little nod and even a smile.

“Yes, I know.”

He shook his head.

“We all made mistakes, sweetheart. We made the mistakes to tale Thomas’ changes personal.”

For once, not a single lie or condescension weighed the value of his words down. The truth liberated his sentence and let the sounds of his verbalisations fly through the air like a happy bird baby that had finally learned how to navigate through the air and raise up into the sky.

Dee sighed and made a somewhat swipe-like gesture with his gloved fingers.  
Virgil shoved himself into the middle of the couch and Remus immediately retreated his legs to himself for his favourite emo to have some space next to him.  
Remus let out another squeal and started bouncing a little, his body trembling like some strange sea monster in the middle of the ocean that only moved for the sake of shaking the water and causing some waves.

Again, Remus was simply a fucked over yet absolutely endearing dog. Loyal, excited.

“Hug?!”  
Remus blinked.  
Somehow, his bouncing got more intense..  
The fabric of his dress was slightly shifting here and there, his body budging along with him but his butt was mostly staying on the couch rather than wobbling up and down like the odd jell-o creature he made himself out to be.

This man was going to explode if he did not get to stim or at least have someone to be squished within the death grip of his arms.  
The touch-starved eyes glances over Virgil again and then continued on, eventually locking with Dee’s wondrous eyes.

“Still don’t like touches, Ree”

Virgil tried a soft smile in reply only to be countered with a scoff from behind him. He turned around, meeting Deceit’s intense glare as he shook his head slowly. His tongue clicked a few times for added suspense and the extra effect of scolding a kid.

“Virgil, I told you before. It takes a liar, to know a liar. You don’t need to save face here.”

The addressed man shook his head, heat rising to his face and painting red over his cheeks. His chest burned like hay.

“I-I am not lying! I told you before, I meant all I said, I-”

“Shhht”

Dee pressed a clothed finger to Virgil’s lips and winked.

“Sometimes, you need to be quiet, my little raccoon. You know as much as I do that there is touch you would never say no to.”

Damien’s voice dropped low, travelling over his skin and leaving imprints in the form of goosebumps all over his body as his words made their way over to Virgil.

“Darling, you and I both know that you enjoy touch if it is just the right one. Now, what is the matter? Do you have a problem with the touches Remus would give you? He is not Patton.”

Virgil curled up on himself and shook his head violently, gently hugging his legs and hiding in them. His sweatshirt was far from enough at this point.  
His skin screamed for more to cover him in these trying times of social interaction. Being put on the spot was an especially extreme case of socialising.  
At the same time, his body did not even burn enough to challenge whatever he felt whenever he was around Roman or Patton a lot.  
Logan was not even a person to throw him off.

“I-”

Remus already charged at him and rolled his heavy body onto Virgil’s in a sudden movement. Squeals and little squeaks accompanied his sudden leap and he threw his arms around Virgil to engulf his friend in the fluffy trap of his physical love.  
A muffled sound came from the emo but he finally wrapped his arms around the other and let his head be tucked under Remus’ chin and mumbled some words of little meaning.

Dee watched the scene for a moment, a warmth blooming within him, unfolding and spreading until he actually felt a warm sensation tug at him.  
Remus.

The chaotic trash master carefully pulled at him. His movements were soft and repetitive so he would not rip the other’s clothing yet still get his attention easily.  
Once his focus was acquired, the lying side did not wait for Remus to ask him again and he leaned in, his chest soft pressing against Virgil’s slightly bigger body. His muscles were tangible from under thin sweatshirt he was wearing after he had taken off his clothing as special sign of vulnerability.

Nobody made him regret it. Not a single act or word had given Virgil just enough of a shock to summon his clothing back around his body or transfer his body back into his room, into the safety he desired and required when he pressed the panic button of this last-minute appearance in his own four walls.

The three remained in the soft comfort of one another for several moment. Just breathing in the weird mixture of Virgil’s rather decent yet rather sweet smell, Dee’s scent that reminded everyone of nature and then there was the weird, oddly slimy and sticky smell of saltiness that emanated off the Duke. It also reminded him of ivy but that was covered by Deceit as well.  
Whatever it was, it felt like the weirdest yet somewhat greatest mix to ever exist. It was like chocolate and mint. It was weird but at the same time still tasty. To some people at least. For some reason, it was actually a real treat during winter time. Like pumpkin being an autumn thing, mint and cinnamon were the spices and scents of the cooler months in a year.

“How was that again?”, Dee teased softly, “ ‘don’t hug me, I’m scared’, isn’t that right?”

A low grumble could be heard from the violet spider in Dee’s many arms and Ree’s long limbs.

“Aw, come on, Virgil. Don’t be like that. I just want you to be honest with yourself. Who knows who long you will let me around this time.”

A growl could be heard but this time it came from the taller of the three.

“Deeeeeeeeeeee”  
The scratchy whine reached a nasty level.  
“Don’t be meaaaaaan! He used the word for stopping and we are stopping! It is the rules! You made the rules and you have to play by the rules or you are a bad person to play with!”

Remus retreated to his corner of the couch again, slightly tugging at Virgil but ultimately leaving him in the centre.  
The snake man looked back at the dark Creativity and nodded.

“It had been so long anyone ever used the word, I nearly forgot. Oh honey, even before you left, you were the only one to really make use of the word.”

Virgil brushed through his precious bangs once more as if to brush off the sudden sweetness in Dee’s voice and the space he had gained despite Remus’ obvious desire for more affection and proximity.

“You kinda made that word a thing so I could clock out whenever you guys got too far with me. No wonder I am the only one to use this shit.”

Damien rolled his eyes playfully. He then allowed the others back into the hug and the pouting tentacle man was quick to squish their dark friend between him and the snake.  
Deceit’s body fit right together with Remus and Virgil, their position natural, almost necessary between them. Their existence was linked together. They were hooks - all attached to one another and difficult to get apart, even when trying a lot.  
It did obviously not really work out even now.  
They were just “simply meant to be”, as Roman would probably sing for them.

Remus carefully nuzzled Virgil’s neck and sent tickles and shivers down the other’s body.

“HEY!”

Virgil pushed his body as far away from Remus as he could. By far, a harsh activity to submit himself to, seeing that he was sandwiched between the two dark sides in a rather close hug. All he did was essentially drive himself into Damien’s many arms.  
Once he was pressed against Deceit, he looked at the Duke, lips pushed into a pout and head ducked like a cautious kitten.

And then he let out the most slurred excuse of a hiss one had ever heard in the history of human life.  
That man was threatening no one but children with a lisp who feared the idea of being put on the spot when working out their little speech impediment whenever they heard a faulty ‘s’ around them.

Remus giggled.  
Oh he giggled like a crazy maniac when he got started.  
The sounds quickly shot into a pitch so high, his voice doubled down on taking it further yet basically cracked and came out in nothing but squeaks that resembled the level of intrusion from a door creaking whenever someone as much as just looked at them.  
He pounced onto the emo again and hugged Damien and Virgil with his immensely long arms and inhumane power to just squish the two smaller sides together.

“Remus- What the actual hell”

Deceit’s words were met with no verbal answer. Instead, he was allowed to witness Remus being himself in all his shameless glory.  
A purr could be heard as the predator stuck his face close to Virgil’s neck much to the other’s dismay (which he voiced in several moments of squeaking out ‘no’ and hiding his head away in Dee’s cape).

And then.  
I t. happened.

Remus had gotten close enough to not just nuzzle Virgil again - which he did not, for that matter - but instead lick him all over his neck and make the light side freeze in motion and immediately fall silent.

“Mine.”

“Remus you sick fuck, howmst the fuck darest thou”

Virgil glared at the man. There was no fire in his eyes. Actually, he was even smiling while trying to rub the saliva off his neck, using the sleeve of his trusty sweatshirt.  
Remus had already pulled back in order to look at Virgil, a lazy grin spreading over his lips as they broadened.

“I think we need to claim Dee, so he is all ours only~ Care to give me a hand?”

Anxiety’s face reflected Remus’ own smirk all of a sudden. A true mirror at hand and without another blink of an eye, the two strove forward to launch themselves at Dee.  
However, the lying side was quick to jump out of reach and off the couch. Within a heartbeat, he was gone and quickly made a run for the hallway - all but in reach of the two dorks who wanted to wet his cheeks and claim him for some stupid reasons they made up in their tiny pea brains!

He dashed away, casting abandonment on the others as he sprinted forward.  
Heads clashed together and Remus jumped down to follow the lead of their prey while Virgil rubbed his forehead. A small yet visible patch of red started fading onto his pale skin and he could feel his head aching and wounded place throbbing uncomfortably.

They were mental projections of Thomas’ personality but if they could be hurt and get emotional, they might experience physical pain, temporarily.  
This one counted as one of these moments in which he felt actual agony and it was not over one of Logan’s issues with taking proverbs literal or Patton making puns or, behold, Roman serenading all his activities and generally breaking into songs at any given moment.  
... they all had issues, and sometimes they were a lot, okay?

“Stay away from me!”

Remus screeched in laughter while Dee ran back to the kitchen, his hat flying due to the speed of his attempt at a dramatic escape as fast as possible from these lovable idiots.

“Don’t dare the Dukey ~”

Damien jumped out of reach once more but the kitchen had been the closest choice and then again just a dead end. He was trapped.  
Virgil was finally back on board and trailed after the others with sneaky, fast-paced steps. His movements echoed through the hall and let the yellow man narrow his eyes at the entrance to the kitchen.  
Shreds of white were flying across the floor as Deceit’s hurrying feet kicked them around. 

It was coming.

“Raccoon! Come over here~ Our friendo needs help with our affection”

Dee was glaring at the other.

“Keep your filthy tongues away, you heathens. I. dare. You.”

The Duke was suddenly silent and still and Virgil nudged him in the side as soon as he reached up to him.  
He was not that fast compared to the other sides.

“Yo snake, come on”

He did not budge.

“Talking about snakes, do you want to know what is up my butt th-”

“I can tell you for sure that nobody wants to know this right now, Ree”

The chaotic man snickered briefly, the sound resembling a shadow sneakily crawling away from its owner and moving on its own.

“Does this mean we can come back to this at another time?”

Virgil glared at him for a moment, scoffing but not minding the comment with any more words.  
Unbeknownst to him, Remus was using his Remusness for exactly this special time and promptly scooped up the trophy that was the lying side.  
During the whole exchange, he had used his tentacles to strive forward and reach for the man in cape and more. He was quick to work these things off so he could see the other in his usual attire again, the clothes he allowed himself to wear around The Others.

He was comfortable with them. The man dared to reveal himself when the was in the darker spaces of Thomas’ mind.  
Whenever he visited the light sides, he was notorious to cover up. Every patch of skin he could alienate from the original Thomas was to be hidden away. He was not him.

By now, he had to worry about several other things than just wearing clothing or losing his cape and glove to the tentacles.  
His tired glare merely graced over Remus. Deceit actually looked like a guys who has had his fair share of dealing with kindergarten children all day long, five days a fucking week for the rest of his time until fucking retirement.

“Do you feel better now that you removed my gloves, honey?”

Remus eagerly nodded at the man and his question. His voice dropped down into the usual tone he used to talk around the light sides, the sneaky sound of evading a straightforward answer.

“Now we can love you!”

Virgil shrugged, his lips twitching into a smile.

“Yeah, dude, you gotta stay with us so we can, like, be nice or whatever.”

Dee dropped his shoulders and his usually upright position reverted to a slight slouch. Instead of a proud position, there was a comfort rather than the attempt at ascertaining dominance as he did in court.  
There was no need to do this here, not around his dear ones. Not around the people he could trust with his life.

“Only if you stay”, he whispered.  
His voice was a needle dropped in absolute silence.

“At least come around a lot, just come over some time.”

The vigilant side looked up at him and carefully inched closer until they were close enough to hug. Remus quickly moved over to join the hug, drawing the two slightly smaller sides to his warm chest.  
His tentacles, with the life of their own, slowly retreated. They had some clothes to chew on for now. Their transluscent green forms gradually inched away from the deceptive side and left the three have their moment of intimacy over their reunion.

“Now, Now, Snake Whisperer, Virgin. We will always stay together. I can glue us together if that helps you-”

He gently nudged him, making the classic man sniffled.

“I’m .. I am not able to just come back but I can drop in as much as Thomas’ mind lets me. I will stay around for as long as I physically and mentally am able to manage.”  
Virgil took a deep breath and wiped at the salty liquids that formed in his heterochromatic eyes, the precious gems of different colours and wild secrets. They held all that Thomas knew and repressed, it was all the knowledge about lying and certain obstacles in life.

“If you leave, I might skin you”

Virgil giggled.

“Please don’t say that”

“Please don’t leave”

“Please, shut up, you two.”

They all chuckled and Virgil pressed a kiss to Dee’s cheek while Remus leaned in to push his tongue against the other’s scales.

“Mine!”

Deceit snorted.

“You are such a fucking mess.”

Remus kissed the top of his head and gently tugged him and Virgil closer once more.  
As they should be. This was where they belonged. They were the dark sides and they were the ones who would always stick together.  
Virgil may be a light side or not, they belonged together and with him around, they could finally complete their own puzzle. They had the little piece that made them whole and filled the void the other had left after his transition to the light sides (due to Thomas’ change in cognition and attitude).

“My room. I mean.. you are not really affected a lot by my room since I, uh... relocated it to the other side and all. I mean, like, you know. That is okay for you? Is it?”

Deceit nodded and the Duke simply wiggled his eyebrows at the suggestion.

“Can I visit Thomas? OW”

The snakey snake retreated and straightened out the wrinkles in his clothing that came from the little struggle they had together. His hand reached over to the wet spot on his cheek and he wiped over it before washing his hands under the sink.

“Disgusting.”

Another sound of giggles erupted from the creative side while he held his Virgil. Soon after, he could draw Damien back into their little cuddle pile.  
Deceit was the shortest side along with Roman but he was still a powerful and proud man. He had the power to pinch a man and evoke pain if he wanted to!

“Aw okay, then maybe we will just go to Virgil’s room already and stay there and then we can cuddle and finally get to make the fuck out! I wanna taste some tongues!”

Virgil let out a prominent noise that resembled a big old ‘blergh’ but he threw himself into the others and let them appear in his room.  
Their bodies crashed into his bed and foreheads bumped together as they embraced one another and giggled.

Sounds were swallowed and Remus’ idea was taken more serious than anyone would ever admit to one another or the sides outside of this room.  
Giggles drowned in the joy of feeling and tasting one another. Feelings sparked in colourful fireworks and there were smiles colouring their faces that could not and would not be wiped away.

Finally, all pieces were back together.


End file.
